FLASHBACK FRIDAY: Getting into yesterday’s TBT with Smash with the BOMBSHELL concert, there was also another reunion by members of the cast of the shorten lived NBC musical drama about the creation of a new musical.
In December 2013, cast members reunited at Feinstein?s/54 Below presenting a 2 night only sold out concert staging of the fictional musical HIT LIST. For those who may not remember, HIT LIST was the rival musical that competed against BOMBSHELL (the Marilyn Monroe musical) at the Tonys. It told the story about young artists dealing with the price of fame. It mainly focuses on a young singer who takes a hidden songwriter’s song and it turns her into a global pop star. The music had a Rent, Spring Awakening, pre-Hamilton: An American Musical and Dear Evan Hansen vibe to it.
The music from the HIT LIST musical was written by Drew Gasparini, Joe Iconis, Andrew McMahon, now Golden Globe winners Pasek and Paul, Hairspray’s Tony winners Marc Shaiman & Scott Wittman, and Lucie Silvas. On the actual TV show SMASH, the musical’s fictional writers are Jimmy Collins (Jeremy Jordan) and Kyle Bishop (Andy Minetus).
The cast of SMASH that returned (in character) for the concert included….
Tony nominee Jeremy Jordan (Jimmy Collins),
Broadway favorite Krysta Rodriguez (Ana Vargas),
Broadway favorite Andy Minetus (Kyle Bishop)
and more.
In addition, Katherine McPhee (Karen Cartwright) was unavailable for the concert. Filling for playing McPhee’s role of the aspiring pop singer in HIT LIST was Carrie Manolakos who has a history with SMASH recording the demos for McPhee during filming.
It was also been rumored that a real stage Broadway production of HIT LIST is in the works. No word has been official yet.
This is the complete recording from the Hit List performance at 54 Below, from December 8th, 2013. It features the entire show.
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